1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly to high-speed stacked memory devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The development of contemporary semiconductor devices, and semiconductor memory devices in particular, is characterized by efforts to cooperatively improve overall device performance while reducing production costs, downscaling components, and increasing the packaging density of the constituent integrated circuits (ICs). Indeed, as the demand for greater integration density persists, new IC products and packaging techniques have been introduced. These IC packaging techniques include surface mount techniques that reduce the overall number of components and increase the density of constituent semiconductor “chips”. Further, the continued reduction of the surface area on printed circuit boards (PCB) and similar substrates available to ICs has motivated a trend towards the vertical (or stacked) integration of multiple chips. By stacking chips one on top of the other a very densely integrated IC may be provided.